Facing 18 felony charges for stolen goods and one charge for possession of methamphetamine — the drug NASCAR said he tested positive for — Mayfield hopes to put those charges behind him soon and said Wednesday that he would consider going through NASCAR’s Road to Recovery drug rehabilitation program.

The 43-year-old Mayfield has fought NASCAR tooth and nail over his May 2009 suspension, spending three years in court claiming that NASCAR suspended him for a false positive test that he said was for a mix of over-the-counter allergy medication (Claritin) and the prescription medication Adderall.

Mayfield, who has five career victories in 433 Cup starts and made the Chase in 2004-05, has said in the past that he would like to come back, but would not subject himself to NASCAR’s recovery program. He appears now to have changed his stance.

“I want to make a serious comeback,” Mayfield said via text Wednesday. “(It would be) very positive towards NASCAR. It could only help both sides, especially if you guys give me another chance and keep it all positive.”

Mayfield would need a positive attitude to make it work. He showed a positive and non-combative attitude Tuesday when he called a Motor Racing Network radio show to talk to NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France, who was taking calls from fans.

According to an MRN employee, France knew Mayfield was on the line and accepted his call.

Mayfield asked what he could do to race in NASCAR again.

“Jeremy, you know the path back for you,” France said. “It’s the path back for anybody. I’ve always hoped that you would choose the right path and not litigation and a bunch of other things.

“That’s up to you. You have a welcome mat out (for you) anytime you want. There’s a stated process that AJ Allmendinger just went through and we welcome him back and it’s terrific. That’s up to you.”

Allmendinger was reinstated by NASCAR last year after completing its Road to Recovery program following a failed drug test in July.

Mayfield’s call to France was just another strange twist in a bizarre story that would only get more odd if Mayfield actually races again considering the combative history and strained relationship between the driver and the sanctioning body.

NASCAR, which instituted random drug testing in 2009, first suspended Mayfield for a failed drug test administered on May 1, 2009. Mayfield filed suit later that month and won an injunction on July 1, 2009 to race again. Before he got back on track, however, NASCAR asked him to take another test on July 6.

Mayfield said he got lost going to the lab and NASCAR sent technicians to his house to get a sample. Mayfield had to give the sample while the technicians watched and NASCAR’s lab said that sample also was positive for methamphetamines. Mayfield said he went to another laboratory that night and produced a clean sample.

NASCAR would have suspended Mayfield again but did not because of the injunction, which NASCAR got lifted a few weeks later in the U.S. Court of Appeals and put Mayfield back on the suspended list.

That same appellate court upheld a later ruling that dismissed Mayfield’s case because of waivers he had signed not to sue. The ruling also questioned the strength of Mayfield’s case.

Before that lawsuit ended in May 2012, though, Mayfield had other legal problems. His home was raided by police on Nov. 1, 2011 and he eventually was charged with 19 felonies — one for possession of methamphetamine and 18 charges for larceny, breaking and entering and possession of stolen goods.

Those cases stretch across three North Carolina counties and two district attorneys, but Mayfield said he hopes to get those issues behind him soon. Theoretically, the charges carry a maximum of more than 40 years in jail, although even if found guilty of all counts, the sentence likely wouldn’t be close to that.

Mayfield said Monday in court that he would not accept a plea deal that would require jail time. He has another court date next Monday.

“I still have to be in court Monday but we hope to have everything done soon after,” Mayfield said. “I’ve had to wait on all the legal (stuff) to get straightened out and now that we’ve got it straight I can go race again.”

But to do that, he would have to go through NASCAR’s recovery program. That starts with a meeting with a substance abuse professional, who will determine how long a program and what type of program Mayfield would need.

Mayfield has said in the past he wouldn’t go to rehabilitation because he doesn’t have a problem.

“Counseling (and) drug test, I’m OK with,” said Mayfield, who likely would be tested often if he returns. “Rehab would be a waste of time. … (But) the answer would be yes I would consider (the recovery program), and I want to get back racing again.

“I’ve wanted to sit down with Brian for a long time and try to work things out.”

That appears to be a change of heart. Just six months ago Mayfield said that Allmendinger, who went through the recovery program and was reinstated, would be “basically living a lie to be a poster boy for NASCAR’s drug policy.”

"I don't see how any man, if he's got any (manhood) at all, can go and take what he's fixing to have to take — and that's going through the Road to Recovery for a guy who did not take drugs or did not do what they're saying he did," Mayfield said last July.

Now Mayfield said he possibly would enter the program after a cordial minute-long conversation with France.

Mayfield had been frustrated by not having a face-to-face meeting with France and told NASCAR’s chief executive that the radio call was the only way he could get in touch with him.

France, though, probably had reason to wonder what Mayfield was calling about.

Throughout the litigation, it is unlikely France would have met with Mayfield without attorneys present. Mayfield also had unsuccessfully asked the courts to allow him to introduce evidence that France had him black-flagged during the 2006 Brickyard 400 at Indy, something which, theoretically, could be the basis of a future lawsuit if Mayfield wanted to go back to court.

All was cordial between France and Mayfield on Tuesday. But NASCAR likely would be meticulous in every test of Mayfield so that if he fails another drug test, which likely would result in a lifetime ban, Mayfield wouldn’t file another lawsuit.

NASCAR also will have to make a decision on whether to take any disciplinary action if Mayfield pleads guilty to any crimes as part of a plea agreement. Those could be considered actions detrimental to stock-car racing.

Mayfield also would need to find sponsorship. He has little money — his wife filed for bankruptcy last year and the couple lost their 400-acre land to foreclosure — and was scraping for funding for his own race team in 2009. But at least one ARCA team owner has shown interest in him, and a possible comeback story might attract a sponsor willing to take the risk.

“I’ve learned a lot through all of this and feel like a better person,” Mayfield said by text. “I’ve been frustrated having to wait on the justice system and probably came across a little frustrated but now it’s time to move on and forget the past.”